DID MODERN MAN REACH AUSTRALIA BEFORE REACHING EUROPE?
Dear colleague and friend,
The presence of Homo sapiens in Europe is today considered to go back
some 40,000 years. Physical traces are provided by skeletal remains
but are they sufficient to define the conceptual wisdom of sapiens?
How may we define the many skeletal materials of living populations
today that show anatomical features not fully corresponding to the
sapiens stereotype? Are Pygmies or Hottentots sapiens? Of course, they
belong to a sapiens society, despite their particular physical
characters.
Conceptual anthropology considers that the intellectual abilities
define the sapiens identity (as well as the skeletal features). Among
other tangible expressions of cultural identity is the habit of
producing figurative art as a pattern of culture. This is a major
trend of the sapiens identity, implying the capacity for synthesis,
abstraction, and conceptualization.
In Europe as in Africa, there are earlier signs of visual markings,
in the form of non-figurative signs and stencils, printing of hands
and other items printed but not intentionally traced by the human
hand. Figurative depictions intentionally shaped by human hands are
the tangible expression of the conceptual abilities defining Homo
sapiens.
According to present dating, such expressions of figurative visual
art in Australia and Borneo, representing animals and/or human beings,
are considered to be 20,000 years earlier than in Europe, going back
c. 60,000 years. Is Homo sapiens present in Australia so much earlier
than in Europe?
Two vital queries arise. First, is Homo sapiens a single racial
stock or are there several different cores of sapiens? Second, if
indeed Homo sapiens derives from a single core, as currently
maintained, where is he coming from? Where did he originate? So far,
the origins of sapiens have been considered to be in Africa. Early
traces of his figurative art are present in Tanzania. Features of
animal figures and a rich succession of different stylistic phases are
hinting at an early age for the earliest phases. But no precise dates
are presently available. The earliest dates of figurative art as a
widespread cultural pattern so far come from Australia. Where did
figurative art first start?
Another query concerns the dynamics of diffusion. How come early
sapiens walked all over the planet, from the African Cape to the
Tasmanian Cape and the Fuegian Cape? When the three capes were
reached, the population density was most likely less than one soul per
100 sq. km. It was not overpopulation that caused migration. Other
primates did not have the same diffusion. They still survive in their
original piece of tropical forest. Homo sapiens was most likely pushed
on by his curiosity, another of his characteristics, that is, looking
beyond the horizon to discover the unknown.
Despite various opinions, two queries seem to remain unsolved:
where is the place of origin of Homo sapiens? And what were the
dynamics of his diffusion? A forthcoming issue of EXPRESSION will
consider articles on this topic. Colleagues and friends having
something to say are welcome to submit papers.
Cordially,
Emmanuel Anati
(Atelier Research Center; Editor, EXPRESSION quarterly journal)
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